The Beat Venezuela’s “worthless” 100-bolivar note Venezuela’s Present Nicolas Maduro has announced that the 100-bolivar note will be taken out of circulation by 15 December, and replaced with new coins and bills ranging from 500 to …

We tend to think of ‘slavery’ as an archaic term. But the fact stands that slavery is still a significant issue in the contemporary world; both in the Asia–Pacific and more locally here in Australia. …

Sea State One of the Su-33 Flanker-D aircraft onboard the Admiral Kuznetsov—Russia’s aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean—crashed last week. The accident was the second one in a month and occurred after one of the …

Sea State Starting off Down Under, the Australian government released a request for tender (RFT) for 12 new offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) last week. In a statement released by Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne, …

The Beat A murder every 1.5 hours At least 6,640 murders took place in El Salvador last year, making it one of the world’s deadliest nations. Though numbers have dropped more recently, the country still …

Sea State The Indian Navy’s anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability received a boost this past week, with the commissioning of the INS Chennai. Equipped with two ASW helicopters as well as sophisticated sonar systems, the INS …

The Beat UN and INTERPOL forge ties This week the United Nations adopted a resolution calling for strengthened cooperation between the UN and INTERPOL. The resolution focuses on collaboration to tackle terrorism, preventing foreign fighter …

Sea State The British Ministry of Defence last week admitted that the Royal Navy’s fleet of frigates and destroyers would be losing their primary over-the-horizon anti-surface weapons due to cost-cutting measures. The Royal Navy will …

Sea State South Korea launched its newest submarine—the Lee Beom-seok—at a ceremony last week. Named after a famous Korean resistance fighter, the Lee Beom-seok is the eighth of a planned nine Son-Won-II-class diesel electric submarines. …

Sea State What happens when you cross a tank with boat? You get a ‘tank boat’ of course! Indonesian defence firms PT Lundin and Pindad—in collaboration with Belgian firm CMI Defence and SAAB—presented a full …

Sea State The search is officially underway for Canada’s new major surface combatant. Last week, the Canadian government requested off-the-shelf design and combat systems integration proposals from 12 pre-qualified bidders for its Canadian Surface Combatant …